Lousy Labour Lambeth to Dump Bin Vans in Residential Area

Streatham Conservatives uncover Lambeth Council’s plan to force a Dustcart Depot on to Thornton residents

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click here to see the Council documents obtained by local Conservatives under Freedom of Information

The areas particularly affected are likely be Cavendish Road , Weir Road and Atkins Road , as the dustcarts fan out across the borough. The Council has acknowledged that residents would be “up in arms” about such a plan!

Huge trucks are set to drive through residential areas from as early as six in the morning, making noise so loud that it breaks World Health Organisation guidelines.  Quality of life will be destroyed, the local environment will be badly affected, roads will be congested and house values could drop substantially. 

Lambeth Council is aware of the local outrage of local people and have sought to cover up the controversy. The Council is even aware that the trucks make such a noise that they contravene World Health Organisation limits – this is revealed in Planning Committee documents of 29 July 2009.

The Planning Committee meeting was originally meant to be held weeks earlier, but officers moved it – at a day’s notice – into the school-summer holiday period. Local Conservatives tracked the agenda and brought it to the attention of Thornton ward residents. Again, Labour failed to flag up the huge implications these facts might have for local residents.

Now Streatham Conservatives have obtained e-mails using Freedom of Information requests. Note the email of 4 August 2008. It considers siting dustcarts in Zennor Road but expresses reservations on the grounds that this might be contentious and therefore bothersome to officers. It ponders other ways forward.

The way forward eventually decided on is to delay the decision until – effectively – after the next Council elections.

We understand that Labour never told residents anything about this process.